Scientists in a study have discovered the phenomenon that affects and upsets the health of millions of shift workers who labor all night while the rest of us sleep. Working against the body clock may result in weight gain, diabetes, cancer, depression, and poor heart health, according to several research.
New research has now discovered a correlation between ‘when’ you eat and the influence on your health. A rodent study led to the finding, which revealed that when sleep-wake cycles and day-night cues do not align, hunger behavior may vary.
How was the experiment carried out?
A group of scientists from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom investigated the relationship between hormones related to sleep-wake cycles and rats’ daily eating patterns. They noticed that disrupting circadian rhythms (physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur on a 24-hour cycle) had a significant impact on the eating habits of rats.
The researchers disrupted the rats’ regular body cycles by administering corticosterone, a hormone equivalent to cortisol in humans, either in sync with or out of phase with the light-dark cues. Rodent corticosterone levels rise dramatically before awakening and progressively fall throughout the day.
When subjected to poorly timed corticosterone surges, rats with undisturbed rhythms ingested the same quantity of food as rats with in-sync rhythms and a control group that got no infusions.
They did, however, consume over half of their regular food consumption during hours when they should have been resting. According to the study, a drop in genes that inhibit hunger likely resulted in a significantly greater urge to eat during the inactive period of the rats’ day.
“When we disturb the normal relationship of corticosterone with the day-to-night light cycle, it results in abnormal gene regulation and appetite during the period of time that the animals normally sleep,” University of Bristol neuroscientist and study author Stafford Lightman explained.